To: Gardner Congdon, Town Supervisor
Moreau Town Supervisor Congdon please resign so we can hold special elections this fall
From the Post Star.... This says it all
"Frustration is mounting over Supervisor Gardner Congdon’s management style, with Town Board members saying they can’t get much done because of him.
“What of significance have we accomplished in the past seven months?” said board member Todd Kusnierz. “I can’t point to anything.”
Instead, he said, the board has had to spend months finding a replacement building inspector, after the last two inspectors left. Both came under heavy public criticism from Congdon.
Congdon criticizes many employees in public, and Kusnierz noted that several employees have resigned while few people have applied for their jobs.
“He’s single-handedly moving the town backward,” Kusnierz said. “To one after another, publicly ridicule, disparage town employees by name is completely unacceptable.”
Board members are also deeply dissatisfied with the way Congdon wants to run the town.
“He doesn’t want to work collectively,” Kusnierz said. “It’s his way, take it or leave it. And that’s not the way government works.”
" Congdon’s way of wanting to take action without following the rules, or while shouting and insulting board members, has not worked, Van Tassel said.
“You can be right, and if you are not effective, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “If you can’t communicate and you can’t get a bunch of people to work together, it doesn’t matter that you are right.”
"Frustration is mounting over Supervisor Gardner Congdon’s management style, with Town Board members saying they can’t get much done because of him.
“What of significance have we accomplished in the past seven months?” said board member Todd Kusnierz. “I can’t point to anything.”
Instead, he said, the board has had to spend months finding a replacement building inspector, after the last two inspectors left. Both came under heavy public criticism from Congdon.
Congdon criticizes many employees in public, and Kusnierz noted that several employees have resigned while few people have applied for their jobs.
“He’s single-handedly moving the town backward,” Kusnierz said. “To one after another, publicly ridicule, disparage town employees by name is completely unacceptable.”
Board members are also deeply dissatisfied with the way Congdon wants to run the town.
“He doesn’t want to work collectively,” Kusnierz said. “It’s his way, take it or leave it. And that’s not the way government works.”
" Congdon’s way of wanting to take action without following the rules, or while shouting and insulting board members, has not worked, Van Tassel said.
“You can be right, and if you are not effective, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “If you can’t communicate and you can’t get a bunch of people to work together, it doesn’t matter that you are right.”
Why is this important?
and more from the Post Star...
Congdon often erupts in shouts and insults of other board members. He also interrupts them and leads the board into tangential arguments that generally last 30 minutes or more.
“These fights are terrible,” board member Gina LeClair said. “Who wants to be represented by the yelling and screaming we have at our meetings? I don’t think people want to say, ‘Heck yeah, that’s my town!’”
After months of such behavior, a line appeared to be crossed at Tuesday’s board meeting. Twice, Congdon and Kusnierz stood as they confronted each other, both seemingly ready to throw a punch. Other board members were openly critical of Congdon, telling him to calm down and saying he throws temper tantrums.
Even the public seemed to feel that enough was enough. People in the audience repeatedly tried to derail arguments, first by coughing loudly and finally by shouting, “Stop!”
Van Tassel said the supervisor’s problem is “ineffective communication.”
“If we could better understand his position, we could probably work better with him,” Van Tassel said.
But instead, Congdon skips meetings or doesn’t offer his input and then criticizes the decisions after the fact. He angrily denounced the board’s choice for building inspector but had skipped the meeting at which they made the decision. He also recently criticized the decision to clean the Sandbar Beach bathhouse for one last season rather than demolishing it.
“That should have been aired before, not after the fact,” Van Tassel said. “Be involved early on. Don’t always be criticizing after the fact.”
The four board members have now banded together and are working to do the work that was often previously done by the supervisor. They are doing research, meeting with employees, talking out ideas with attorneys and developing legislation.
“We’re hoping to handle things Gardner doesn’t want to work with,” LeClair said.
The process is slower, but it’s working.
“We may not always agree, but we always come to a solution,” LeClair said. “It’s wonderful. It’s never been as smooth as it is now.”
Van Tassel stressed that the board members will work with Congdon if he wants to work in a collaborative, non-combative way.
“We’re going to just move forward and we hope that he’s part that,” Van Tassel said. “We are fully committed to do that with or without the supervisor.”
Congdon often erupts in shouts and insults of other board members. He also interrupts them and leads the board into tangential arguments that generally last 30 minutes or more.
“These fights are terrible,” board member Gina LeClair said. “Who wants to be represented by the yelling and screaming we have at our meetings? I don’t think people want to say, ‘Heck yeah, that’s my town!’”
After months of such behavior, a line appeared to be crossed at Tuesday’s board meeting. Twice, Congdon and Kusnierz stood as they confronted each other, both seemingly ready to throw a punch. Other board members were openly critical of Congdon, telling him to calm down and saying he throws temper tantrums.
Even the public seemed to feel that enough was enough. People in the audience repeatedly tried to derail arguments, first by coughing loudly and finally by shouting, “Stop!”
Van Tassel said the supervisor’s problem is “ineffective communication.”
“If we could better understand his position, we could probably work better with him,” Van Tassel said.
But instead, Congdon skips meetings or doesn’t offer his input and then criticizes the decisions after the fact. He angrily denounced the board’s choice for building inspector but had skipped the meeting at which they made the decision. He also recently criticized the decision to clean the Sandbar Beach bathhouse for one last season rather than demolishing it.
“That should have been aired before, not after the fact,” Van Tassel said. “Be involved early on. Don’t always be criticizing after the fact.”
The four board members have now banded together and are working to do the work that was often previously done by the supervisor. They are doing research, meeting with employees, talking out ideas with attorneys and developing legislation.
“We’re hoping to handle things Gardner doesn’t want to work with,” LeClair said.
The process is slower, but it’s working.
“We may not always agree, but we always come to a solution,” LeClair said. “It’s wonderful. It’s never been as smooth as it is now.”
Van Tassel stressed that the board members will work with Congdon if he wants to work in a collaborative, non-combative way.
“We’re going to just move forward and we hope that he’s part that,” Van Tassel said. “We are fully committed to do that with or without the supervisor.”